A comparative study of hydrogen evolution on Pt/GC and Pt/GNPs in acid solution

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2024-01, Vol.51, p.1240-1254
• Main Authors: Rakočević, Lazar, Golubović, Jelena, Radović, Dana Vasiljević, Rajić, Vladimir, Štrbac, Svetlana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acid solution; glassy carbon; graphene nanoplatelets; hydrogen evolution reaction; platinum
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.07.231

We present a comparative study of the electrocatalytic performance of catalysts obtained by electrochemical and spontaneous deposition of Pt on glassy carbon (GC) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) supports. Pt/GC, with high Pt loading, obtained by electrochemical deposition of Pt, and Pt/GNPs, with low Pt loading, obtained by spontaneous deposition, show the highest activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acid solution.AFM images of Pt/GC reveal that the GC coverage by Pt nanoparticles is 87%, while SEM images of Pt/GNPs do not show the presence of Pt species due to their small amount. XPS analysis confirms that the amount of Pt is 48.1 wt% in Pt/GC and 4.6 wt% in Pt/GNPs. The HER activity of both catalysts is equally high, showing onset potentials close to 0.0V (vs. RHE). The Tafel slopes of 30 mV/dec for Pt/GC and 37 mV/dec for Pt/GNPs indicate different HER mechanisms. [Display omitted] •Pt is electrochemically deposited on GC with a high loading of 48.1 wt%.•Pt is spontaneously deposited on the GNPs with a low loading of 4.6 wt%.•HER activity of Pt/GNPs exceeds that of Pt/GC in an acid solution.•The HER overpotential for Pt/GNPs is lower than for Pt/C.•HER proceeds through different reaction mechanisms on Pt/GC and Pt/GNPs.